Lubrication of textile fibers



Plant d D Jcatingtextile fibers.

istics.-

This invention relates to s method for lubri- In the. processingfoffibers for the manufacture PATENT 1. 2,413,428

nUnnIca'rIoN or TEX'llLE mans mm. 'Bll linsllsouth Acton, Masa, assignor rosive, and are non-toxic'to to Coml nYrSt. Louis, Mo

No Application NOVGl nbfl' 3i 1943 tj i SerialNo. 9 win- 16 viscosityih'waten'solution may be varied within of textile -products'-,ait'is customary tous'e'a lubri-' cant for the. fibers;- ,The'lubrlcantahas, two. principal functionsefir'sait lubricates the fibers during the various" processing steps, thereby minim fiber breakage'especially in opening processessuchaseardingr and second. it acts as an adhesive in that it prevents fiy in carding operations and alsov promotes cohesionoilfl'ie fibers into a loose sliver, thereby facilitating condensing, drafting, and spinning- Alter the lubricant hasperformed its mnv ions,1.;it is usually removed i'romfil' e fibersiby scouringifi- While there are anumber of-jfiber lubricants on the market, thedubric'ahts most extensively,

a wide range,- sufiicient to meet any fiber-lubri- Their price is within the cation requirements. range of the price of ordinary lubricants.

, The advantages of my preferred class of lubriants are clear from the foregoing discussion.

Certain of these advantages, however, will now be particularly pointed out. In the first place, these compounds, being water-solubleare readily 1 scoured out with water. No soaps or otherspecial materials are necessary for this purpose-thus' dlflering markedly from the procedure with conventional lubricants. Furthermore, since these compounds are positively hygroscopic, they do not; dry out, even when in very thin films, under the I normal temperature and humidity conditions of used are olive oil, certain types of mineral oils, ,fi

both uncompounded and compounded (i. 20

blended or specially processed), and also various glycerides such as lard oil, as well as some'pro prietary glycerides. These lubricants; however,

havebeen found unsuitable in varying degreeswithrespect to either scourability, odor, price, lubricatin properties, deterioration on aging, dyein It isaccordinglya principal object of this inproperties of the fibers, or other character-. I

vention' to provide a classiof compounds which are definitely superior in lubricating and related properties to. known lubricants and lack their" disadvantages. Other-objects will be clear from theltollowing disclosure.

a this invensium) methyl phosphate, sodium (or potassium) ethyl phosphate, sodium (or potassium) amyl'; phosphate, and mixtures and mixed compounds of these and related compounds of this class, such as sodium potassium methyl phosphate, sodium potassium ethyl phosphate, sodium potassium The compounds which I have found suitable for the purposes of this invention are the alkali and specifically the namedsalts ot'such acids inwhich the alkyl. group contains not more than five carbon atoms. These compounds are all thoroughly water soluble, and markedly hygroscopic;

their water-solutions are fluid at operating conditions of fiber processing, which are in the general range of 40% .to relative humidity at 1". They manifest a pH value inwater solution which is either substantially neutral or moderately on the alkaline side of neutrality; they are not so acidic as to be hazardous to the operators or corrode the machinery, nor so alkaline as to injure the'fiber's. The re'sultingpH should in general be not lower than 5nor higher than 11, and the preferable working range is between pH=6 and pH=10. Films of water-solutions oi these materials do not appear to penetrate the fibers; hence they are eil'ective lubricants. They are substantially without odor, and do'not develop odor on standing nor 'underj conditions of plant-operation They are stable to'temperatures even up to the boiling; point'of theirwatersolu tions, Either in water solution or aloneythe'y' are non-inflammable, non-volatile, and pom-cor alkylolamine salts'oi' alkyl phosphoric. acids,

Moreover, I mayuse' toadvantage the alkyloi-- amyl phosphate and the sodium (or potassium) salts of the mixture of alkyl phosphoric acids obtained by'reacting three mols of a suitable alcohol with one moi of phosphorus pentoxide;

amine salts of alkyl phosphoric acids, such as the di or trl methanol or ethanol amine salts of methyl or ethyl phopshoric acids. The criteria of operabllity of such compounds has already been set forth-re. 8., they must be water-soluble,

. In carrying out the process of this invention, v ineonnection with the lubrication of fibers, I first prepare a water-solution of one or more mate'- m er-J his? using the process 1101f lubricating worsteds for an I. illustration, I makeup'awaten-solutionfof f'sodi- 1 havingbetween positively'hygro'scopic, have a pH in water-solution which is not high enough to injure the fiber (preferably not over 10), and be efiective lubri rants. Specifically, the specific compounds just mentioned have pH values in water-solution ranging between (and 8 in the dilutions used (e. g., 50%). They are furthermore,sta ble under, I up to at leastall operating conditions, and even their boiling point in water solution;

rials of the class of lubricants hereindefined, and then-,apply it tofthe fibers in any suitable Asa specific example,

um :potassiumi ethyl pngspna the operators. Their same tothe stock. -The stock is then passed through the usual textile operations of spinning,

weaving, etc., and, when the lubricant has-finished performing its functions, it may be removed by merely washing in water. 'During the mill operations and while the lubricant is on the fibers, the humidity of the surrounding air should not go (at least for any length of time) appreciably below the point at which the lubricant begins to lose water faster than it takes it up ue to its hygroscopic properties. ethyl phosphate this point is at about 40% relative humidity at 70v F. for the best results, but may be even as low as about 25% ifnot maintained that low for a prolonged period-i. e.,

- 4 taining water wetness at relative humidities not substantially lower than 40% at"70- F.

4. As a stage product in the manufacture of textile products, a textile fiber having a fluid coating which comprises sodium potassium ethyl phosphate, said coating manifesting a pH value between 6 and 10 when in approximately an equal .Weight of water-and maintaining its fluidity at For sodium potassium during an appreciable portion of the time that the lubricant is on the fibers. If, however, the lubricant should be allowed to dry out, as when the lubricated stock is, for example, stored at too low a relative humidity, the lubricant can be readily returned to its proper condition by putting it into, .the presence ,of an atmosphere of proper relative humidity-e. g., 50% or oyer at 70 F.

Similar procedure is followed in using the other compounds in the class of lubricants herein defined. This procedure may be modified as desired, within the scope of this invention, for

' specific purposes. Other fibers than wool may be effectively lubricated by the procedure of this invention. Such lubrication is particularly desirable in connection with the processing of animal fibers generally, but is hot limited thereto.

Although the products referred to herein have been described as lubricants, they do notact as lubricants in the same manner or in the same sense as the oily materials of the prior art. Thus, their lubricating action is primarily due to the maintenance of water wetness and the elimination of static rather than to any tendency toward or characteristic of oiliness.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No. 369,713, filed December 12, 1940. 1

What I claim is:

1. As a stage product in the manufacture of textile products, a textile fiber having a fluid coating which comprises a substance selected from the group consisting of alkali and alkylolamine salts of alkyl phosphoric acid, in which the alkyl group has between one and five carbon atoms,

relative humidities not substantially lower than i weight of water and maintaining its fluidity at relative humidities notsubstantially lower than 40% at 70 F.

6. As a stage product in textile products, 'a textile I coating which comprises triethanolamine ethyl phosphate, said coating manifesting a pH value between 6 and 10 in approximately an equal weight of water and maintaining its fluidity at relative humidities not substantially lower than 40% at 70 F.

7. The method of treating textile fibers to render them more amenable to textile, processing steps such as carding, condensing, drafting and spinning which comprlses'applying to said fibers at some stage prior to spinning a fluid coating which consists essentially of .wat'er and a substance selected from the group consisting of alkali the manufacture of and alkylolamine salts of alkyl phosphoric acid,

in which the alkyl group has from 1 to 5 carbon atoms, said coating being capable of maintaining its fluidity at relative humidities not substantially lower than 40% at 70 F., whereby said treated fibers are maintained substantially free of static during said processing steps.

8. The method of spinning fibers which comprises applying to said fibers at some stage prior to spinning a fluid aqueous coating in the form not substantially lower than 40% at 70 F. from said coating manifesting a pH value between 5 and 11 when in approximately an equal weight of water and maintaining its fluidity at relative humidities not substantially lower than 40% at 2. Textile fibers which have been coated with a lubricant and anti-static composition containing as its essential lubricant and anti-static component an aqueous solution of an alkali alkyl phosphate,in which the alkyl group has between one and five carbon atoms, said coated fibersbeing substantially free of, static and maintaining water wetness at relative humidities not substantially lower than 40% fat '70? F.

, 3. Textile fibers which have been coated with a lubricant and anti-static composition containing as. its essential lubricant and anti-static component an aqueous solution of an alkylolamine alkyl. phosphate,in which the alkyl group has between one and five carbon atoms, said'coated fibers being substantially free of static .andmainthe time said coating is applied until the completion of the spinning, whereby said coating is maintained in a substantially water-wet state and said fibers are maintained substantially free of static.

9. The method of spinning fibers which comprises applying to said fibers at some stage prior to spinning a fluid aqueous coating in the form ofa thin film consisting essentially of water and a substance selected from the group consisting of alkaligand alkylolamine salts of alkyl phosphoric acid, in which the alkyl group has from 1 to 5 carbon atoms, spinning the resulting fibers and removingsaid coating after the spinning is comp1eted,-the atmosphere surrounding the fiber being maintained ata relative humidity not substantially lower than 40% at 70 F. from the time said coatingisapplied until the completion of the spinning, whereby said coating is maintained in asubstantially water-wet state and said fibers are maintained substantially free of static.

. I HOWARD J. BILLINGS. 

